Adultery, Lust, Malice

Book excerpt: Manas-mind, its vehicle, kāma-desire, and their interplay with other minds through karma-action are hard concepts to grasp without an appreciation that they are a single dynamic trinity, and not three ontologically distinct ideas. In his Science of the Emotions, Bhagavān Dās undertakes a bold and incisive study of the continuum of Desire-Thought-Action, where he demonstrates elegantly and convincingly that “emotions” and “feelings,” mostly mixed and lumped together by the ignoramus, are none other than the workings of this occult triplet. Mastership of the mind’s pendular māyāvic movements, swinging back and forth from the Centre of Being, is prerequisite to success in whatever domain it chooses to focus upon. Dr. Dās identifies the essential nature of Desire, elaborates upon the duality of primordial e-motions and their endless permutations, and proceeds unravelling the aetiology of attitudes and their behavioural implications. His Science sheds light on man’s lower propensities which, if left unchecked, will go on demeaning character and disgracing kith and kin. He instructs, amuses, and enlightens the reader through a series of pithy essays. He even lays bare the distinguishing qualities between confusingly similar emotions, from Devotion and Worship, to Smile and Laughter. The Science of the Emotions remains the definitive text for those seeking knowledge of self and Self.